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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

A No-Recipe Meal- BBQ Chicken

Last week I brought you Easy Pork-Chops. This is another one of those no-recipe, whip-together family dinners.

This week I bring you BBQ grilled chicken-in strips or in a sandwich.

I cut boneless, skinless chicken breasts into bun-size pieces and strips. I marinated them in bottled BBQ sauce all day. (I usually do as much meal-time fixing in the morning as I can manage.)

I also made some hard-boiled eggs and refrigerated them for a salad later.

About 30 minutes before dinner, I cut up some new potatoes and put 1/4 stick of butter in a baking pan with them. I sprinkled with garlic salt. 400 degrees for 30 minutes. I stir a few times.

At dinner time, I threw the chicken on the grill. I scavenged my fridge for salad fixings. I almost always have Romaine hearts in my fridge and I happened to find some spinach, a cucumber, onion, and tomatoes. I put some of the hard-boiled eggs and some grated cheese on top for a Chef's Salad. I love homemade dressing and so I made this Greek Dressing. It's so easy. I don't even follow the recipe sometimes when I'm feeling lazy-I just use oil and vinegar as a base, and a little mustard, basil, and oregano. It always turns out delicious. Oh, and croutons. A salad isn't a salad without croutons.

Some of us like chicken sandwiches:

Some of us like it plain dipped in ketchup or BBQ sauce:

The best part: I had leftover salad and chicken for lunch for Abbey and I the next day.

I so agree about the croutons. My kids won't eat bbq sauce yet, although maybe if I used it as a marinade instead of a dip they'd be more willing to to try?? You always impress me with your meal prep and healthy dishes.

Sarah, Love it and love how you present all the prep ideas together. I have been enjoying your greek dressing, bread stick recipe (for pizza dough) and other things. We like putting chicken breasts in a crock pot all day with onion, then throwing BBQ sauce in at the end and shredding. This feeds a crowd, after church group, etc. Mary Brooke

I love your no recipe meals. Most of mine are no recipe anymore....after 24 years of cooking. But I do need to take your cue and do a little more meal prep in the morning because after school is always busy with homework. I used to love that Kraft food magazine and still use some of the ideas. Like grill twice the amount of chicken and then use the leftovers for baked chicken enchiladas. I also have marinated chicken in salad dressing, grill, add slice of mozzarella and have sandwiches on Kaiser. The adults usually add grilled onions and peppers. Yum!

A question: I have a 12 yr. old boy, 10 yr. old girl, 5 yr. old boy, 5 month old baby girl.....baby girl is going to be crawling and mobile before I know it...How do you handle the need for your older children to do their thing (Legos, crafting, more Legos...lol.) and still keep it baby friendly? Do your older kids just keep that stuff in their rooms.....I would miss them if they were always in their rooms because they can't do those things out in the common areas??? Wondering how we're going to handle this spread in ages :/. Thank you ahead for any advice you have to offer......

I LOVE reading your blog. Since I started staying a home about a year ago, it has provided such encouragement in my daily life. In fact, I often send your posts to my friends who are new mommies and struggling with too high of expectations they have placed on themselves. Thank you for being faithful to update regularly :) Anyways, we know BBQ sauce down here in Alabama, so I wanted to share this famous 'Big Bob Gibson's' Pig Sauce with you. It can be stored in an airtight container for 1 month and doesn't have all of the preservative, high fructose corn syrup, and other additives found in store bought BBQ sauces. The recipe also includes a link to 'white sauce' which is also an Alabama thing that most people eat with baked/grilled or smoked chicken. Please try it if you get a chance, it is fantastic. Lastly, from the same blog I recently made a baked chicken parm and it was delicious and simple...Exactly what big families or families with little ones need. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

The blog is called 'Taste and See," from Psalm 34:8. It has so many quick, simple, and delicious recipes!Pig Dip: http://maryanna-bishop.blogspot.com/2011/01/pig-dip.htmlBaked Chicken Parm: http://maryanna-bishop.blogspot.com/2011/03/baked-chicken-parmesan.html

Sarah - Thank you SO MUCH for posting this!! I am a mother of 7 children and I still don't have the dinner plan down well. We adopted 2 additional children from Ghana in the last year and so I feel like I am in a tailspin most days - but the way you throw food together creating a divine nutritious meal...let's just say I really want to conquer this :). Please feel free to share more of your tips and tricks to making dinner easy and delicious! Thanks again!!

Thank you so much for sharing your tips and tricks to make an easy and nutritious dinner! As a mother of 7 children I am so wanting to conquer my dinnertime plan (it feels way to overwhelming). Please feel free to share more!! You are awesome Sarah :)

When our first baby was placed in my arms I knew there was no place I wanted to be other than home with him every day. Twenty two years, and five more babies later, (six children, now ages 22-4), I still feel the same. I can’t imagine a more challenging, fulfilling, rewarding “job” than being a mom. It truly is a vocation, and I feel blessed beyond measure.